Always a Wasp

I'm not sure why Ashton Gate and the Ricoh are offered as alternatives. With the prospect of no fans all you need is a  field, 2 sets of posts and a generator for the cameras and media truck to work. 

Maybe this is the future of pro rugby in england?

What would happen if a club.. be that with a potential 500 supporters on a Sunday morning.. or 5000 on a Sunday afternoon opened their turnstiles.

Have any acts of parliament been passed to stop that?

As far as I can see the govt/NHS/SAGE need more guinea pigs.. if it means I have to go to grounds around the UK to watch rugby.. (all expenses paid.. the same that MP's get), then I'm willing to make that sacrifice 

"Even "mild" cases can come with some really serious longer term effects."

How do you know that? I'm not sure an 8 month pandemic (welll 3 months at most)  could ever lead to a possible conclusion on long term effects.

Do you know something the rest of us don't ?

I suspect any player that is stationed or covering  in the backfield waiting to receive box kicks, crossfield kicks  is going to feature fairly highly within this statistic. Having a high carry yardage doesn't actually mean anything productive/threatening comes from it.

What's more effective/important, a 1 yard carry from a prop  that produces a try or a winger catching the ball on his 22 and making it to the halfway line before being tackled and being turned over.

.. but if it keeps a statisticain in a job at PRL or BT..

Slightly OT, but as regards the TRP I get it free via my library (Solihull) online on my tablet every Sunday morning. So you all might be able to too. Many libraries let you use the ‘PressReader’ app for free. With it you can get free instant online access to hundreds of national newspapers, magazines and often the TRP. Check your local library website to see if they give you free access to ‘PressReader’ and/or ‘RB Digital’. You’ll need a library card of course. Every library seems a little different to what they give you access to so good luck.

Isn't it "Solihull Actually" (a midlands joke)

There's a couple of things that spring to mind to try and dissaude this tactic.

The 1st is concentrating on how the players"bind" to each other whilst in single file. To be bound to another player, the upper arm and I think part of front/side shoulder needs to be in contact with another player. Quite often players simply have their hand on another player infront.. if so.. that player and everyone else behind is not boound.. the ball is out.. no offside for the opposition.. opposition players are free to come around and pilfer the ball.

Another idea relates to what consitutes as a ball still being in the ruck.

The ball doesn't have to under a body to be deemed "still  in the ruck".. it can be at the base of the ruck, and in the case of the scrum, not particularly close to the 8's feet, but still part of the scrum (ruck).

So is there some sort of theroretical semi-circle, from one side of the ruck to the other side.. roughly incorporating the base area.. if so.. does a line of players protuding out the back really count as being "part" of the ruck..

From the naked eye.. I'd say no.. again, ball  is deemed out, and possibly the players in the caterpillar could be deemed to be offside if they try to prevent opposition players from getting to the ball.

I have a feeling similar ideas, laws (interpretations) were used to dissaude teams from using the mobile version of the caterpillar, the "trucking and trailer" driving maul..

Morally we should be avoiding Russia, and treating them like a pariah.

If we want to grow the game in an ethical way, I think we should be looking to host it in the US or Argentina.

Sadly morals and ethics don't come into it.

If it did, would China have hosted the Olympics.

I don't think we should tarnish a whole nation by the actions of the elite.

The primary thought to consider is whether a country can offer the infrastructure to host incoming fans and move them around the country from location to location. I think that rules out Argentina

Russia proved they could do that in the football WC. Oz can do that as well but there are doubts about the state of rugby union in Oz and the willingness of the elite to invest to make that happen.

I doubt Russia has a vote on the World Rugby council.. but they know how to make an offer that can't be refused.

I have a feeling Sky haven't allocated channels for the BT Sport Extra channels on their spectrum.. or BT don't want to pay extra for those channels to be allocated slots considering they are hardly ever used (that and Sky don't really want to be allowing a competitor using their infrastructure.. but that works both ways.. I doubt BT are happy about Sky selling their FTTC product)

After this season concludes I think I'll be going down the NBC route